SLC Primer for Russian Translation Users

摘要

Since 1964, a generalized language translation system has been used by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to translate Russian scientific text to English. The translation system, first implemented at Georgetown University around 1960, has been rewritten and improved through the years as computer models changed. Although the translations lack high literary quality, the system by means of its context-sensitive dictionary nevertheless provides inexpensive, fast, and highly useful translations of scientific literature. The translation system uses a linguistically oriented programing language called SLC (Simulated Linguistic Computer), which permits description of the translation process in linguistic terms. This SLC Primer is written as an aid to users of the Russian-to-English translation system; it describes how the SLC-based translation system works and how to improve the dictionary, both by modifying old dictionary entries and by adding new ones. In the translation process, the complete augmented dictionary entries for all the word units in the sentence are analyzed for interaction so that the correct translation in this context may be produced. Numerous examples of dictionary entries and their use are included in the discussion, and an increasingly sophisticated knowledge of the SLC programing language is developed. (ERA citation 02:061836)